Belgrano II station
| Base Belgrano II Belgrano II base |
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| Coordinates | 77 ° 52 ′ S , 34 ° 38 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Antarctica | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | AQ | ||
| height | 50 m | ||
| Residents | 19 (all year round, as of 2010) | ||
| founding | May 2, 1979 (summer 1978/79) | ||
| Website | cancilleria.gob.ar/es/iniciativas/dna/antartida-argentina/bases/belgrano-ii (Spanish) | ||
 View of the station, 2018
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The Belgrano II station ( Spanish Base Belgrano II ) is a permanent, year-round manned polar station and research station on the Bertrabnunatakkern on the Luitpold coast in Coatsland . It is named after Manuel Belgrano , a general and politician of the independence movement of Argentina and the traditional creator of the flag of Argentina .
It belongs to the Argentine Antarctic Territory , which is led in the province of Tierra del Fuego .
Belgrano II is the southernmost of 13 Argentine research stations in Antarctica. It is the third southernmost in the world and the southernmost built on rock, which makes it particularly interesting for geological studies.
history
In 1955, then Brigadier General Hernán Pujato built the first Belgrano I station , which was the southernmost Argentine settlement for a long time.
After 25 years of uninterrupted activity, the Belgrano I station was closed due to the rapid deterioration of the ice edge it stood on; new, often hidden cracks and crevices put personnel and material at risk. In order to continue the scientific programs and maintain Argentina's presence in the region, after careful consideration of alternative locations by the Argentine Army, it was decided to build the new facilities on solid ground. In the middle of the huge ice surface that covers the Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land there are only three small masses of granite: the Moltke , the Littlewood and the Bertrabnunatakker , all of which were first sighted and named in 1912 by the Second German Antarctic Expedition led by Wilhelm Filchner . The Belgrano II station was built on February 5, 1979 on the latter about one hectare of ice-free rock. The delivery of materials, tools and equipment as well as supplies were carried out by the Argentine icebreaker ARA General San Martín .
The new accommodations were a huge improvement over the previous ones: Although the location is more south and higher than that of the Belgrano I station, the climate is significantly milder. Since 1955, the men who wintered at the old Belgrano I base lived in tunnels that were dug in the ice, but the ice slowly moved towards the sea and, after the station was abandoned, turned into a tabular iceberg drifting through the Southern Ocean .
In addition to the new instruments brought from the mainland, the Belgrano II station took over all the scientific equipment from the Belgrano I station. The LABEL laboratory (LAboratory BELgrano) was rebuilt with great effort. The José Luis Sersic polar observatory and a satellite antenna for data transmission were newly installed.
On the morning of September 10, 2005, the main house was completely destroyed by a fire caused by a malfunction of the heating system. People had to be distributed to other buildings and new food and clothing had to be brought in from the mainland and brought out of the air as the fire had destroyed all wintering elements. The construction of emergency shelters to solve the housing problem began in early 2006. This new building was planned in two phases, with the first phase (bathrooms, kitchen and bedrooms) being completed in 2006–2007 and the second (living room) in 2007–2008 has been. During the 2008-09 campaign, construction of a new main building began. It was completed during the 2009/10 campaign and inaugurated on May 25, 2010. The new house has a covered area of over 500 m² with more comfort and relaxation space. It is located on the site of the former house that was destroyed by fire.
While repairs are being carried out on the Argentine Navy's icebreaker ARA Almirante Irízar , which is normally used to supply the base, the Argentine Air Force is taking on the supply task by means of parachute drop operations carried out with Lockheed KC-130 aircraft in non-stop flight from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego.
The General Belgrano Cross , which was set up at the Belgrano I station in 1955 and moved to the Belgrano II station in 1979, was included in the list of Historic Site or Monument under number 43 at the suggestion of Argentina as part of an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting .
description
The Belgrano II station is located about 1300 km north of the South Pole and about 2500 km from Ushuaia, the nearest port city. Because of the latitude, the summer day and winter night are four months long.
The Belgrano II station consists of a dozen buildings, which are located on the rock of the Nunatakker, and extends over a total area of 6 hectares. The structures consist mainly of metal or fiberglass-clad composite panels filled with polyurethane foam to ensure adequate thermal insulation against low temperatures. Facilities and equipment at the station are: main and staff houses, emergency accommodation, airfield, heliport, chapel, museum, radio station, weather station, atmospheric research station, energy supply, vehicle fleet (several Tucker snow groomers and Yamaha VK-541 snowmobiles ), workshops, equipment and spare parts stores as well as food depots. The runway, which can be used all year round, is located on a glacier 2 km southwest of the base. There is a small infirmary that is manned by a doctor and a nurse. The Catholic chapel dug into the ice is the southernmost Christian church in the world or the southernmost place of worship for any religion.
The general tasks of the station team are primarily scientific research, surveying and exploration, as well as supporting foreign scientific expeditions. Other common tasks are the maintenance of the accommodation, search and rescue, medical support, communication and weather forecast for expeditions, bases, ships and aircraft of nationality and foreign nationals.
Scientific activities
The following research activities are carried out at LABEL:
- Meteorology ,
- Research into the ozone layer with height probes and - in joint programs with Italy and Spain - with spectrophotometers ,
- Astronomy with an Optical Telescope in collaboration with the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba ,
- Solar radiation and energy resource study with a local satellite station transmitting data in real time; Since February 1998, a geodetic GPS receiver and a seismological recording station have been operated in a joint program with the Alfred Wegener Institute ,
- Seismography using the world's southernmost seismograph on solid rock,
- Analysis of the earth's magnetic field fluctuations
- Research on the ionosphere and aurora borealis in collaboration with Italy
- Extraterrestrial noise
- Bird watching
- Geodesy , by GPS and DORIS
The station is run by the Dirección Nacional del Antártico , which is an initiative of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Commercio Iternational y Culto . The Argentine Armed Forces are responsible for maintenance . In 2010, the station's 19-man crew consisted of two Air Force meteorologists, three civilian researchers and 14 members of the army to operate the station.
climate
The Belgrano II station has an ice climate characterized by its coastal location (EF, Effective Climate Classification ). The area is characterized by weather fronts extending to the north. This does not lead to particular precipitation, but to strong winds or storms with wind speeds of up to 200 km / h and considerable wind chill .
Temperatures range from -20.4 ° C in July as the coldest month to -2.4 ° C in January as the warmest month. In the summer months the temperatures range from -1.2 ° C to -7.7 ° C, in winter from -15.9 ° C to -23.6 ° C. The temperature extremes are on average -2 ° C to -54 ° C. Northern lights can be observed regularly on polar nights.
Precipitation in the form of snow occurs all year round, on average on 143 days a year and with the period from January to April with 13 to 14 days a month as a flat peak.
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Belgrano II station
Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (precipitation 2001–2010, snow days 1981–1990),
Deutscher Wetterdienst (precipitation 1982–1995), Meteo Climat (temperature extremes) |
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See also
Web links
- Fundaciòn Marambio - Base Belgrano II (Spanish)
- Dirección Nacional del Antártico (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bases Antárticas argentinas ( Spanish ) Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Base Belgrano II ( Spanish ) Fundaciòn Marambio. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ↑ Insólito incendio en la Antártida ( Spanish ) In: Infobae . September 10, 2005. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ↑ List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012) (PDF) Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2012. Accessed December 31, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d Intercambio de información - Información Permanente . Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d Base Belgrano II ( Spanish ) Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- ↑ Estadísticas Climatológicas Normales - período 1981-2010 ( Spanish ) Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ↑ Servicios Climáticos - Información de Turismo - Base Belgrano - Datos estadísticos (1981–1990) ( Spanish ) National Meteorological Service of Argentina. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ↑ Clima en la Argentina: Guia Climática por Base Base Belgrano II ( Spanish ) In: Caracterización: Estadísticas de largo plazo . Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
- ↑ Belgrano II Climate Panel (Argentina) / Antarctica . German Weather Service. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ^ Station Belgrano ( French ) Meteo Climat. Retrieved June 11, 2016.